ALPHA TARGETZ - Pistol 1

Shooting is fun, but you also want to get better at hitting the target. Now, one doesn't want to or can take a trainer every time one makes it to the shooting range. ALPHA TARGETZ aims to bridge the gap between trainers and fun shooting with their special target sheets. They have come up with several drills and offer these in the form of A3-sized target sheets on a practical tear-off pad. We dared to tackle the beginner block "Pistol Training Level 1" and share our impressions with you.

Setup

At the beginning, you have five sheets that go over the basics for beginners once again. Whether it's the correct weapon handling, safety rules, or how the sight picture should look. 

Everything is nicely presented, and the basics can never be repeated too often. After that come the drill sheets. Two pieces per drill. Since we have been shooting for a while now, we thought: "No problem." Sometimes, one can be mistaken.

Drills

All drills are designed to be shot at a distance of 7 to 10 meters, as some shooting ranges do not allow shots under this distance. A good thought. Drill 1 is actually very simple. All shots should go into the center of a 10 cm circle. We are satisfied.

Drill 2, target changes and slightly smaller circles. For targets two and three, we were too impatient the first two times, which is why the hits were too low. Slow is fast, or so.

Drill 3, when approached calmly, the hits also fit. They could be better, but it was also over 30 °C in the shooting hall. On to the next drill.

Drill 4 destroyed us. In each circle there should actually be a hit, but somehow it just didn't work out. In the best case, we landed 3 hits in the black. After later analysis and attempts by other shooters who shoot better than I do, we concluded: The points are simply tiny with a diameter of 2.5 cm (inch) at 7 m. Larger points would be advisable here, as even very good shooters don't always hit the black. We have already passed on this feedback, and he has received it several times regarding this drill. Nonetheless, a very good exercise. I need to work on my weapon grip.

Drill 5 requires a shot timer. The procedure is simple: draw from the holster, three shots, three numbered boxes, and there should be one hit in each box. Timing makes it a more challenging endeavour than one might think. Lesson learned: the weapon grip must improve, and when changing targets downwards, one should take a bit more time. And before you know it, 1.5 hours have passed.

Conclusion

Pistol Training Level 1 from ALPHA TARGETZ is, we believe, a very good training tool. They have not reinvented shooting training, but have summarized sensible drills well and compactly. For the future, we would love a version with three (or more) target sheets per drill without the handling instructions. Even though Level 1 sounds trivial and simple, these are the basics of hitting and can never be practiced too often, as we have experienced ourselves.

Overall, we really like the concept, and during our next trip to the shooting range, we will continue to work on our hit pattern and weapon handling.

The ALPHA TARGETZ are available, for example, at Survival Tacgear starting at €25.50 per pad.